Galaxy Tab S3 Launching March 24 for a Hefty $599

The Galaxy Tab S3 impressed us during our hands-on last month thanks to its rich HDR screen and luxury-level design. Now, the tablet finally has an official price and release date.

Samsung seems to be targeting the higher-end of the market, as the Tab S3 will cost a hefty $599 when it goes on sale later this month.

Available for pre-sale starting tomorrow (Mar. 17) via Samsung and select retailers, the Tab S3 will land in store shelves on March 24.

The big selling-point for the tablet appears to be its 9.7-inch Super AMOLED display, which offers the same 2,048 x 1,536-pixel qHD+ resolution as the $499 Galaxy Tab S2, but now with HDR support. During our hands-on, we saw more vibrant, nuanced colors in HDR versions than in their non-HDR versions, with sunlight popping with a stronger orange and grey clouds appearing with more purple.

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Samsung's also betting on design and premium materials with this tablet, as it's only 0.2 inches thin and features a glass back and metal frame. It's unclear if high-end tablets can still succeed when Amazon's selling its $50 Fire, but if any non-iPad tablet can turn heads, it'll likely be the Tab S3.

The Galaxy Tab S3 will include the S Pen stylus. Image: Samsung

The Tab S3 will come with the S Pen, which offers more than 4,000 levels of sensitivity and a rubber tip that makes writing feel natural. Samsung's going to make you spend more for the S3's attachable keyboard ($129.99), which offers decent-feeling key travel, but no backlighting or touchpad.

As for specs, the Tab S3 is going to pack a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 (2.15GHz + 1.6GHz) CPU and 4GB of RAM, which should make it faster than the Tab S2. That predecessor was already zippy, but its Exynos 5433 (1.9 GHz + 1.3 GHz ) CPU and 3GB of RAM will likely not hold up in comparisons. The Tab S3 will include 32GB of storage, just like the Tab S2 did.

Those still using their tablets to take photos will be happy to hear S3 will also be getting upgraded cameras, with a 5.0 megapixel selfie cam and a 13-MP rear shooter (the S2 has a 2.1-MP camera in the front and a 8-MP camera in the back).

We look forward to seeing how the Tab S3 holds up to the best tablets on the market, so stay tuned for our full review.